School Supply Giveaway!

Hey, I think this is a record of how many posts I made in one day. Well, if not in one day, at least within 2 hours.

So Mikki over at The View From My Beach Chair is having a giveaway. I'm passing the word along for two reasons. 1 - it gives me another entry and 2 - to let you have a chance at it.

Head over there now to enter to win. It's a great giveaway for school supplies from the Carolina Pad Company.

The Carolina Pad Co. has some really cool school products.

The Kendall Kollection, which supports blood cancer research and patient education and support services, Graphic in Nature, Eye Candy, Whimsical Flower, and many more collections. They even have eco-friendly products.

Now go visit Mikki and enter the giveaway!


Until next time...

hillbilly fun

Ok, one more post for today.

Last night a couple of friends came over (my husband's friends).

They brought their guns. (It's a country/Southern thing, or maybe just a guy thing).

We (yes, we) shot off a few rounds.

Yep, that's me shooting. It was a .22. That's about all I know about it. Regardless of the fact that I *ahem* got expert marksmen in the Air Force I know very little about the actual gun. I pretty much just know "aim and shoot".

My targets.

The one on the right was only my shots. Not as good as several years ago (I wear glasses now), but at least all 10 shots hit the paper.

The other one had 8 of my shots on it, then one of the guys hit it with buckshot. As you can tell. This one was actually a little better. My shots were closer to the center.

Anyway, that was our little fun last night.


Until next time...

who can resist?

If you've been reading my blog for the last few days, you'll know I've been getting up very early in the mornings. Earlier than I have for a long time.

This morning I was actually planning to sleep in.

Well, I didn't get to.

You see, someone decided he needed to eat. And it wasn't my husband.

It was this little fella.


Honestly. Who can resist that sweet, smiling face? Not me!

BTW...he went back to bed after a few bites of cereal.

*sigh* And I stayed up.

Tired, but happy.

Until next time...

Chocolate Friday - breakfast

Today's post is about chocolate (it is after all, Friday). :)

See this? It's called a Breakfast Sundae. Know why? 'Cause that's what I had for breakfast.

So sue me. It's what I wanted and the kids are still in bed. Remember? I'm getting up oh-so early these mornings?

This was vanilla frozen yogurt (semi-healthy, huh?), topped with Hershey's Special Dark chocolate syrup, and Fisher nut topping. Pshaw! - I'm not going to tell how much I had. Let's just say...it was enough. :)

Are you drooling yet? Want to see that again, from another angle? Ok. Here ya go.




Um...yeah...you can stop licking the screen, now. And, for crying out loud, wipe off the keyboard!

hahaha

For more chocolate-y goodness head on over to Lisa's. (Psst...I think she's got her feet in something. Might want to check that out).


Until next time...

22 of 52 photos of me

So, here's another picture of me per Carin's challenge. You know the one - Mom, get in the picture! :)


If you read my previous post, you know how early it is. Don't expect anything great. It's all real, folks.



Yep, hair's up, no make-up, early morning look. With my early riser.

Go on over to Carin's and see more pictures of more moms. We're out there. Just usually behind the camera.


Until next time...

early mornings, earth's rotation, and easy fun

*whispering* Shhhh...you know what time it is? 6:45 a.m. That's pretty early in the morning, people. I have been up for one hour. Yep...that means I got up at 5:45 this morning. This is the second morning in a row that I have been up before the sun.

Hey (normal voice now) that reminds me. A few days ago one of my boys said something about the sun going down in the earth at night. Soooooo...I had to get the flashlight, the globe, and take ourselves in to the kids' bathroom that has no window, and do a little homeschool lesson. (I love homeschool). Hopefully, now, he understands how it works. If not, I'll be glad to review. It's fun! Of course a few others had to come in a watch too.

Speaking of dark rooms and other light sources. My mom had a yard sale a couple of weeks ago. (She's moving and was getting rid of a LOT of stuff). My brother had left stuff there for her to sell for him. One item was a strobe light. Remember those things? No one bought it. Can you see where this is going? Guess who got to bring it home with them. Yep. Us. Now that is some serious fun. We waited until dark. Everyone went into my bedroom. Turned out the lights. On with the strobe light. Whew! We had a blast! Even my hubby got in to it. Wait - actually HE started the whole thing! I sat off to the side for most of it, laughing and laughing. It was so much fun. We're easily entertained, folks.

Hey, does anyone live in or around Roanoke, VA? We might be visiting this weekend and wondered if there were any must-see places. We're thinking of going to the Mill Mountain Zoo and possibly Natural Bridges. Someone told me about an animal park? Somewhere you drive through and feed the animals? Or just look at them? I can't remember right now (it's so early ya know). I've looked at VA's website, but sometimes there's those hidden, out-of-the-way places that are so cool, but not really well-known. Any ideas? Anyone? Bueller? (ok...I"ve never actually seen the movie...I've just heard that quoted so much).

So, what's on your agenda for today? I've got normal, everyday stuff to do. And it's raining here so I'll be using the dryer instead of hanging clothes on the line.

Come back in a few for my next picture of me.


Until next time...

Efficiency

Here's another picture for your viewing pleasure.

Efficiency in hair brushing


Until next time...

did that bird just bump my head?

Yes, I'm posting early this morning. Well, it's not as early now as it was earlier. Know what I mean? :)

So, yesterday we went to the zoo. Here's some pics. Yes, we try to wear the same color when we go out. And usually people know why. A small child was asking her parents why we were all in the same color. The dad answered that is was so we could keep up with everyone. That's most of it. And I'm just weird like that...wanting everything to match.

Also most of the time it's just adults that ask the questions like "Are they all yours?" "Is this a group i.e. school, club, etc?" But yesterday a boy about 9 or 10 asked. "What group is this?" Um...just my family. "Is it a family reunion?" Nope, just all my kids! Kind of funny actually. He was a nice kid.

But, I digress. On with the show...

This bird? Yeah, he flew over my head and clicked my sunglasses with his feet. Close, huh? We got to watch the bird show. A lot of neat birds, but I don't have room to put them all on here. I'll give you one more pic of a bird. This is my 8 year old son's favorite bird.

The Scarlet Macaw

Almost the whole crew looking at the elephants while standing in the mist they had spraying out.

Helping out and having fun doing it

A very rare picture of my oldest (she doesn't like having her picture taken). Check out that thing in front of her. An elephant's foot print. HUGE!

A Bengal tiger

The 5 year old loves tigers. He has two stuffed tigers that are his favorite things. One is a regular orange tiger and he's had it for a couple of years. Then just recently, we found one exactly the same only white. He loves them!

Having a blast!

Just having fun at the zoo

"Helping" push the wagon (my husband's great idea - a wagon is a lot easier than 3 strollers - and more fun!) And it just happened to match yesterday. We have other colors we wear, too. :)

Everyone gets to ride! (the 9 year old)

Back to the bird show. Einstein is world famous and belongs to the Knoxville Zoo. She was at the bird show. Pretty funny. You can see her here. (Yeah, why did they name a female bird Einstein?)

And that was yesterday. We love going to the zoo. We have a membership and definitely get our money's worth. This weekend we might be going to Roanoke, VA and going to the Mill Mountain Zoo. It's a reciprocal zoo to ours; which means since we have a Knoxville Zoo membership we get in free at reciprocal zoos. Nice.

And now since I've uploaded a ton of photos, it's definitely NOT as early as it was earlier. Got it? Good.


Until next time...

21 of 52 photots of me

I am so far behind on my 52 photos challenge. It seems like the last 3 Thursdays have been full of appointments and errands.

In fact, the three dentist appointments for my 8 year old were those 3 Thursdays. The last one resulted in him having a tooth pulled. He was quite a trooper. We decided to just go with local anesthesia and he did a great job. This is a boy who these dentist appointments were the first ever.

Yes, I'm so sorry, we are just now getting our children to dentists. Growing up I didn't go to the dentist unless I needed to. We didn't have yearly checkups for anything. I hardly ever went to the doctor of dentist. So it didn't dawn on me to get the children in early. Now I know.

So to get back to the photos. I'll try to get back on track. So I'm going to cheat and put three on this week. Here's the first installment. :) #21 Home Salon (ouch!)




Until next time...

How?

How?

Ten little toes
Ten little fingers
Look at them wiggling
In front of you.
I wonder how God
Made them so.

written by my 9 year old last night
She has some talent, no?

Until next time...

Facebook users: ALERT!

3 different friends on my Facebook account had this. They are not friends with each other, so I figured it might be legit. If it's not, please let me know.

ALERT: Facebook has agreed to let third party advertisers use your posted pictures without your permission. Click on "Settings" up at the top where you see the "Logout" link. Select "Privacy". Then select "News Feed and Wall". Next, select the tab that reads "Facebook Ads". In the drop down box, select "No One". Then save your changes. Do it now

Until next time...

Chocolate Friday - Chocolate Tip #1

Do your chocolate chip cookies turn out the same every single time? Mine don't. And I found out the reason why. Sometimes I would melt the butter because I was in a hurry and didn't want to wait for it to soften. Sometimes (ok all the time) I wouldn't bother to measure some ingredients and just say "that looks about right" and tossed it in.

Here are some tips to make your chocolate chip cookies just the way you want them, whether chewy or crispy.

Did you know that you shouldn't scoop out the flour with the cup you're measuring it in? You spoon it into the measuring cup and then level it with a butter knife.

Sugar makes a difference too. More brown sugar makes a cookie softer and chewier (I personally like mine this way and only use brown sugar). White sugar will make the cookie sandier and crisper overall.

Butter and eggs: it depends on the temperature. Cooler ingredients will keep the dough cooler and will make the cookie spread more slowly in the oven. The oven's heat "sets" the cookie while the dough is still thick thus making a thicker, chewier cookie.

And cool those cookie sheets between batches if you want the chewy cookies. Also, on humid days, if you are trying to keep a cookie crisp, wrap them well. The humidity will soften even the crunchiest of cookies.

I hope you enjoyed your tip for baking cookies. For more "treats" on chocolate go visit Lisa. She's got the greatest recipes.


Until next time...

Friday Funnies - Parrots

A lady was walking past a pet store when a parrot said, "Hey, Lady! You're really ugly!"
The lady was angry but continued on her way.
On the way home, she passed by the pet store again, and the parrot once more said "Hey, Lady! You're really ugly!" She was enraged now, so she went into the store and said that she wanted the bird disposed of. The store manager apologized profusely and promised he would make sure the parrot didn't say it again.
The next day, she deliberately passed by the store to test the parrot. "Hey, Lady!" it said.
"Yes?"
"You know."

This joke came from Noah's Favorite Animal Jokes book. If you can find it, I recommend it for some humorous reading. You could probably find it at Amazon.com or any local bookstore. My mom gave me the one I have.

For more funnies, go visit Kim. Link up a joke of your own while you're there.


Until next time...

Crayola giveaway!

Want to win some Crayola sand for the kids sandbox? Go to Mom of 2 Boys, Wife of 1 and enter the drawing!


Until next time...

Have you given your children away yet?

If not, then you need to.

What!? What on earth am I talking about?

Ultimately, who does our children belong to? The One who loaned them to us, of course.

To understand what I'm talking about, go here, scroll down to Otto Koning, Tales from the Jungle #1, 2, and 3 and listen to him. He is a very funny speaker with a very serious message.

And then give your children away. You'll be glad you did. :)

As an added bonus, there are some more good speakers on that list; Ray Comfort, Bruce Frye (a good singer), Kent Hovind, and others.


Until next time...

fun and adventure

Does anyone ever listen to Adventures in Odyssey? They are stories that take place in a little town called Odyssey. The mostly center around a fun place called Whit's End. Each story had a Bible truth to learn. They are entertaining and range from humorous to adventurous with just about everything in-between. I enjoy them just as much as the children.

If you want to find out more, you can find the link on my sidebar or just go here. We discovered that you can listen to the days show on the internet. We don't have a radio to pick up the show when it airs.

We also have found the first 7 albums and have them on the computer.

Anyway, just wanted to share.




Until next time...

Giveaway winners!

So sorry I'm late on this.

And the winners are....

Kim and Mimi! (All those comments paid off, Kim! lol) Hurry and send me your address and I'll get your magnets in the mail asap. Maybe even today.

It's a bonus for Kim, because today is also her birthday! Drop over to these ladies blogs and congratulate them on their wins. And wish Kim a Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Kim! May your day be filled with chocolate and happy wishes and more chocolate! :)




Until next time...

Chocolate Friday - Giveaway!

We've had a busy few days this week. Company, dentist appointment, more company.
I don't have a recipe this week, but I do have something to give away that has to do with chocolate. Check it out.

And guess what!? There's not just one, but TWO! That's right two of you will win a Chocoloholic magnet! These are really nice. It's approx. 2"X3" and has a full cover magnet backing. It has a metal core and clear mylar covering. High quality, folks.

Simple to enter. Just leave a comment...or two...or three...hey, leave however many you want!

Giveaway will be open until Sunday at noon my time (Eastern). I will draw two winners and announce it Sunday evening. Hopefully, I can mail them out to you on Monday.

Now to get your chocolate recipes, head over to Lisa's. She's on vacation, but she set up a guest poster today with what sounds like a super yummy treat! Go check it out!

Until next time...

Book Reviews - 2 of Mary Connealy's latest books

Mary Connealy is fast becoming one of my favorite authors.


Montana Rose
released 7-1-09

Fire up your love of romance with Montana Rose, where Cassie Griffin, a seemingly spoiled pregnant woman, is widowed one day and wedded the next. Marrying handyman Red Dawson seems the only alternative to Cassie’s being hitched to a brutal rancher. But can this “China doll” bear exchanging smooth silk for coarse calico? Red was reluctant to be yoked to an unbeliever, but sometimes a man has no choice. Will Red change Cassie’s heart by changing her name? Wade Sawyer is obsessed with saving Cassie from a marriage of convenience. How far will he go make her his own?

This book is just as good as any other that Mary Connealy has written. The beginning is kind of confusing. The dead husband doesn't sound so bad at first. But as the story goes on you find out just how controlling he was. In a bad way. The mistakes that Cassie makes trying to be a good wife had me rolling. And by the time she's having the baby...I could hardly catch my breath from laughing so much. You'll love this book. Cassie learns so much about how a man is supposed to treat a wife. And she is truly blessed in her second husband. Red is a true gentleman and is very patient in teaching Cassie what she needs to know about ranch living. Even when she bungles it so often. You'll love this couple as they fall in love and strive to work together on their sudden marriage. As an added bonus, Mary has included a side plot on a wife who has made some poor choices in her life. I hope Mary writes her a better story in the future. She is a great character who needs her own story. (Mary, if you read this, take note).



Cowboy Christmas
release date 9-1-09

Singer Annette Talbot used her voice to spread the Gospel with a group of traveling missionaries. When the new leaders want her to dress provocatively and give up singing her beloved hymns, Annie escapes--but finds herself a wanted woman, accused of theft. Rancher Elijah Walker can never forgive his fiance for the death of his father. When the secretive Annie comes to stay at the Walker ranch, he could once again lose his heart to someone who could hurt him. As Christmas approaches, can Annie and Elijah put distrust aside, allow God to heal their hearts, and find the joy that the season--and true love--brings?

Another great book by Mary Connealy. This book starts off with a bang and leaves you wanting to read straight through. I think I did, as a matter of fact. The excitement that starts with the characters separately, continues once they meet. When danger comes looking for Annie again, Elijah is torn between wanting to help her and tempted to believe the worst. But truth prevails in the end and they are free to pursue their feelings. This book isn't due out until September, but look for it in your local bookstore or find my CBD search engine on the right and pre-order it.
In fact, if you haven't already, you need to order any or all of her books. I guarantee that you won't be disappointed.

If you are already a fan, go to Mary's blog and drop her a comment. She'll surely appreciate it. :)

With these two books behind me, I'm looking forward to what Mary writes next.


Until next time...

short and sweet

For the short side of it: Future posts may be a little on the short side in the near future. I have a ton of projects to do and other stuff. Lot of sewing and my scissors and sewing machine picked NOW to act up. My pinking shears are getting a little dull. My machine is bunching up the thread on the bottom. Anyone know of anything that could help with those little problems?

Now for the sweet: Other than baking chocolate chip cookies today...I have a little something to share on the dessert side.

Poor Man's Cheesecake. Anyone else make these?



Graham crackers, cream cheese, and some fruit preserves. Instead of the Cream Cheese Fruit Dip, I usually take a block of cream cheese and mix a cup of powdered sugar in it. Strawberry Preserves work well, too. Yummy.

Oh, and the frosted cup in the background? Sweetened fruit-flavored herbal tea. Do you think the sugar discounts the good nutrients from the herbs? Nah...hope not anyway. Especially since I only use 1/2 cup per gallon.

Well, that's it for today.

Until next time...